Model vehicle and guide rail therefor



June 23, 1953 H. 6:. BAIGENT 1 noon. vmxcu': AND cums RAIL Filed rm; 8,1951 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVE/YTOR HENRY (YR/L BAIS'E/VT ATTORNEYS June23, 1953 H. c. BAIGENT v 2,

now. mucus AND cums" RAIL 'IHEREFOR Filed lay 8. 1951 4 2 Shoots-Sheet 2ITTOPNEYJ' Patented June 23, 1953 MODEL VEHICLE AND GUIDE RAIL THEREFORHenry Cyril Baigent, Bournemouth, England, as-

signor toHenri Baigent Limited, Bournemouth, England, a company of GreatBritain I 1 Application May 8, 1951, Serial No. 225,231

In Great Britain May 8, 1950 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to model vehicles more particularly toself-propelled model racing cars, and to guide rails therefor.

It is commonly known to constrain a selfpropelled model car to run in acircular path by aifixing to it a wire or the like-one end of which isattached to a pivot forming the centre of said circular path. It is alsoknown to achieve the same object by providingon one side of the carguide members for engaging an annular guide rail which is affixed to thetrack upon which the wheels of the car travel.

In the latter case, however, there has not been provided ready means forattaching or detaching the car to or from the rail, and in both cases ithas been necessary to aflix the car to the wire or mount it upon therail before starting up the propulsive power of the car. It has alsobeen necessary to bank up the track considerably since the wheels, whichare normally set for travel in a straight line, are constrained to movealong a circular path. Furthermore, with' a circular track, it is notpossible satisfactorily to race two or more cars side-by-side along thetrack at the same time, since their circular paths would be of unequallength.

The present invention has for an object to pro- 3 vide an improved modelvehicle and guide rail therefor in which the means for attaching thevehicle to the rail includes means for steering the vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guide rail havin meansfor readily and easily attaching or detaching the vehicle theretowithoutadjustment or resetting of the vehicle attachment means.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means forattaching the vehicle to the rail which means is adapted to permit therear of the vehicle to swing laterally with respect to the rail thuspermitting considerable freedom of movement of the car on the track uponwhich the car runs.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a model vehicleand guide rail therefor by means of which the vehicle may satisfactorilybe run in a path other than circular and the circuit over which thevehicle travels mayinclude sharp or double bends.

A yet still further object of the invention is to provide a guide railfor a self propelled model vehicle which permits angular displacement ofthe vehicle transversely to the longitudinal axis thereof whereby thevehicle is constrained to travel along a banked or unbanked track, andwhich is simple in construction and easily secured in position onpermanent or portable sectional tracks. In the latter case the millssuch as to facilitate the laying of the track sections' Yet a stillfurther object of the invention is to provide a self propelled modelvehicle and guide rail therefor by means of which the progress of thevehicle along a track is such as to simulate to a high degree thmovements of a full size vehicle.

, These and other objects of the inventionwill be apparent from thefollowing description of a" preferred embodiment thereof in conjunction,

with the accompanying drawings. ings: Figure 1 is a side elevation ofIii. the drawa self propelled model racing car, and guide rail therefor,the near side wheels of the car being omitted for clearness; I

Figure 2 is a section taken along the line II-.II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective underneath view of the car and guide railshowing the manner in which the car is steered when travelling along acurved portion of the rail; and

Figure 4 is a plan view of a portion of the guide rail adapted forattaching and detaching the car therefrom.

' Referring to the drawings, a self propelled model racing car. i isadapted to travel along a track 2 and is guided by a guide rail 3 whichruns 1 between spaced rollers 4 secured to the underside of the car in amanner to be hereinafter described.v The guide rail 3 comprises a rod ofcircular cross section spaced from the track and securedzthereto bymeans of brackets 5 secured as by welding for example at spacedintervals to the rod and to the track 2 by means of rivets or the like6. Alternatively the rod may be secured to the track by screws, withspacing members surrounding the screws and interposed between the rodand the track. J I

v The rail 3 and track 2, are preferably formedto define a closed figureof anydesired shape to provide a circuit around which the car travels.

The front wheels I of the car are rotatably supported upon an axle 8which extends through slots, 9 in each side, of the body I0 of the carformed of sheet metal as by stamping for example and secured to a base Il. r

The axle 8 passes through an aperture in the for supportin the rail 3upper end of a centrally disposed column I! which extends through anaperture 13 in the base and is rotatably supported in an upstandingflanged bushing l4 secured to the base as by rivets [5. The axle issecured in the column It by means of a screw l screw-threadedlongitudinally of the column and extending into a centrally disposedrecess in the axle 8.

The axle 8 is thus free to swing horizontally about the axis of thecolumn I2, the amount of swing being limited by the ends of the slots 9which engage the axle when it= reaches a predetermined angular position.

The lower portion of the column l2 extends into an aperture in arectangular plate 11 upon which the rollers 4 are mounted, the end ofthe column being riveted over so that theplate is firmly securedthereto. The rollers 4 are formed with concave edge surfaces [8 whichmatch the curvature of the guide rail surface: andare rotatably mounted.in pairs at each. end. of. the plate: ll, the rollers of each-pair beingspacedapart a distance suflicient to provide a. clearance between theconcave surfaceof the rollers and. the guide rail 3 but insufficient topermit the guide rail to pass between the enlarged ends of the rollers.Each roller 4 is rotatably supported upon a spindle l9 riveted at oneend in the plate Hand having a screw at its other end, which screwengages in a recess 2| formed: in one end face of the roller to maintainthe roller in position on the spindle.

It will be apparent that, as the car progresses along a curved portionof the track and guide rail as shown in: Figure 3 the plate II will beswung about its pivotthereby rotating the-column l2 and causing acorresponding swing of the front axle B to steer the car in the: desireddirection.

The rear portion of the car is engaged uponthe guide rail 3- by afurther pair of rollers 4 mounted upon a triangular shaped plate 22pivoted at its apex to the base of the car thus permitting lateral swingof the rear portion of. the car within the limits of movement of theplate 22 and thereby adding to the realism of the performance of themodel.

' The: rollers are mounted upon the plate-'22. in a manner similar tothat described. with. reference to the plate I]. The plate 22 issecured: at its apex to a column 23 which is rotatably supported in abushing secured to the base or the car and: extending? upwardly withinthe body thereof.

Thev car may bepowered' byany suitable. means such as for example a.model internal. combustion engine 24 shown in'broken line: in Figure l,the r'eanwheel's 25 being secured to a shaft 26 rotating' within a rearaxle 2.1

In order to permit: the car to be attached to or detached from the guiderail, the mills formed at convenient points in its? circuit with arcuaterecesses 28 (Figure 4) on each side of the rail and spaced apart atdistances alongth'e rail equal to the distances betweenthe three pairsof rollers on the car. The radius of curvature of the. recesses 28 isslightly larger than the maximum radius of the rollers 4' (shown inchain dotted line) and the recesses are of sufficient depth to allow therail to pass freely between the ends of the-rollers when they arepositioned coincident with'the recesses 28 as shown in Figure 4'.

' It will be apparent, that if the car'be placed upon the rail at one ofsaid convenient points, and allowed to travel along the track, the frontaxle will bepivoted in'accordance with any bend '4 in the rail, and thecar steered accordingly. Further, the rear of the car is also guided bythe rail, but by reason of the pivoted rear plate, it is allowed freedomto swing in the aforedescribed manner.

By the use of the car and railv of the present invention, it is possibleto employ almost any shape of circuit, including sharp or double bendsWhether banked or not. It is further possible to start up the power unitof the car before mounting it upon the rail, and by providing two ormore. parallel rails, to race two or more cars side-by-side, thus addinggreatly to the enjoyment. of the pastime. By including means for theready attachment and detachment of the cars to and from the rail, theinvention also provides for races of long duration, or endurance races,since the cars can be readily removed from the rail at preparedpositions for re-fueling or refitting and replaced during the race.

The invention. is not limited to the. particular construction described,and many modifications thereof are possible within the scope of theappended claims. For example, if it is intended that the car shall runupon an unbanked track only, the guide rail. maybe of a cross-sectionother than circular, and the vertical walls of the rollers notched orrecessed to correspond.

What I claim is:

l. A racing carfor. use upon a track having a guide rail of circularcross-section secured thereto for constraining the car to move along apre determined path, comprising a body, front and rear axles mountedthereon, track engaging wheels cnsaid axles for supporting the body uponthe track, an. upright: support rotatably mounted upon said body abovesaid rail and secured at its upper end to said: front axle intermediateits Wheels, a horizontally arranged. plate positioned beneath saidbody'and. secured to the lower end of said support, a. pair of rollersjournaled upon and depending from said plate, adapted to engage oppositesides of the rail, a second horizontally arranged plate lying below saidbody and pivotally secured thereto at a point towards the rear of saidcar upon an. axis at right angles to said track, and a pair of railengaging rollers journaled upon and depending from said second plate andspaced longitudinally of its pivot to permit the body to swingtranversely of the rail, the walls of said rollers being hollowed outand the axes of the rollers of each pair being laterally spaced so thatsaid walls embrace the rail permitting the rail to pass freelytherebetween longitudinally of the car.

2. A racing car for use upon a track having a guiderail of circularcross-section secured thereto for constraining the car to move along apredetermined path, comprising a body, front and rear axles mountedthereon, track engaging wheels on said axles for supporting the bodyupon the traclgan upright support rotatably mounted upon said body abovesaid rail and secured at its upper end to said front axle intermediateits wheels, at horizontally arranged plate positioned beneath said bodyand'secured to the lower end of said support, two longitudinally spacedpairs of rollers journaled upon and depending from op posite ends ofsaid plate, adapted to engage opposite sides of the rail at two pointsalong its length, a second horizontally arranged plate lying below saidbody and pivotally secured thereto at a point towards the rear of saidcar upon an axis at' right angles to said track, and a pair of railengaging rollers journaled upon and depending from said second plate andspacedlongitudinally of its pivot to permit the body to swingtransversely of the rail, the walls of saidrollers being hollowed outand the axes of the rollers of each pair being laterally spaced so thatsaid walls embrace the rail permitting the rail to pass freelytherebetween longitudinally of the car.

3. A racing car for use upon a track having a uide rail of circularcross-section secured thereto for constraining the car to move along apredetermined path, comp-rising a body, front and rear axles mountedthereon, track engaging wheels on said axles for supporting the bodyupon the track, an upright support rotatably mounted upon said bodyabove said rail and secured at its upper end to said front axleintermediate its wheels, a horizontally arranged plate positionedbeneath said body and secured to the lower end of said support, a pairof rollers journaled upon and depending from said plate, adapted toengage opposite sides of the rail, a second horizontally arranged platelying below said body and pivotally secured thereto at a point towardsthe rear of said car upon an axis at right angles to said track, and apair of rail engaging rollers journaled upon and depending from saidsecond plate and spaced longitudinally of its pivot to permit the bodyto swing transversely of the rail, the walls of said rollers beinghollowed out and the axes of the rollers of each pair being laterallyspaced so that said walls embrace the rail permitting the rail to passfreely therebetween longitudinally of the car, said body having a pairof opposed elongated slots in the sides thereof to loosely receive saidfront axle to permit and limit swinging movements thereof.

4. A racing car for useupon a track. having a guide rail of circularcross-section secured thereto for constraining the car to move along apredetermined path, comprising a body, front and rear axles mountedthereon, track engaging wheels on said axlesfor supporting the body uponthe track, an upright support rotatably mounted upon said body abovesaid rail and secured at its upper end to said front axle intermediateits. wheels, a horizontally arranged plate positioned -beneath said bodyand secured to the lower end of said support, a pair of rollersjournaled' upon and depending from said plate, adapted to en-' gageopposite sides of the rail, a second horizon- I tally arranged platelying below said body an d pivotally secured thereto at a point towardsthe rear of said car upon an axis at right angles to said track, and apair of rail engaging rollers journaled upon and depending from saidsecond plate and spaced longitudinally of itspivot to permit the body toswing transversely of the rail,

the walls of said rollers being hollowed out and References Cited i thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 867,765Strickler Oct. 8, 1907 924,182 Neville June 8, 1909 933,914 NevilleSept. 14, 1909 1,122,396 Jackson Dec. 29, 1914 1,602,066 Burton Oct. 5,1926 2,125,590 Smallwood Aug. 2, 1938 2,468,158

Bartholowmew Apr. 26, 1949

